


black is a happy colour

by uwujinism



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Friends to Lovers, M/M, ace!chan, chan and felix are besties and the love each other mwah, chan centric i love my ace son, everyone except for woochan and felix are only mentioned, happy ace pride day!, i wanted to write ace chan again and i did, i'm a mess, mutual pining kind of but not really, still woochan endgame tho bc i love them, that's not even just related to this fic it's just a fact, the title is a mess because i can't do titles for my life, this is a little messy idk don't hate me, woochan deserve more love, woojin is a sweetheart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-20 03:05:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14886449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uwujinism/pseuds/uwujinism
Summary: his hands are shaking a little but he tries to concentrate on envisioning the rings characteristics in his mind instead. he can almost feel the cool metal and the matte, slightly rough surface under his fingers as he recalls every curve and edge of the black steel ring. however, it doesn’t make his search more successful. the ring is nowhere to be found and chan almost wants to give up but he tells himself that he still hasn’t looked anywhere apart from his bedroom. there’s a voice at the back of his head telling him that if he didn’t find the ring in his room he isn’t going to find it anywhere else in the apartment but he ignores it.or:chan loses his black ace ring and noone except for woojin understands why it's so important to him





	black is a happy colour

**Author's Note:**

> hello uwu  
> i'm back with another ace!chan woochan au bc i loved writing 'don't you want somebody to never let you go' so much! it's asexual pride day and i thought what better way to celebrate than projecting my feelings onto chan again lmaooo
> 
> the tenses might be a little weird at some points because i experimented with present tense instead of past so i hope there are no major mistakes... please tell me in the comments if you find any!!
> 
> have fun reading!
> 
>  
> 
> // for anyone who doesn't know about the ace ring symbolism:
> 
> an ace ring is a term for a black ring, usually worn on the right middle finger, that the wearer intends as a symbol of their ace identity. the concept was introduced in 2005 on aven (asexuality visibility and education network) and it basically serves as a symbol for the asexual community to show a feeling of belonging/reassurance but it's not universally known/accepted.

he first realises during one of his shifts at the compass. it’s not exorbitantly unusual for him to take the ring off, so chan tries to ignore the uneasy feeling settling in his stomach for the time being. he looks at the clock and finds out that he still has an hour at work left and tells himself that he probably left the ring on the bathroom counter after showering this morning. minho calls out to him and before he can overthink the matter he is tasked with taking orders for the (kind of rowdy) group of high schoolers that just entered the café.

the rest of the evening is a little busier than usual and chan forgets about the ring until his shift is over. he says his goodbyes to minho and seungmin after getting his bag and jacket from the back and steps out of the building through the back door. at first he feels calmer standing in the cool breeze of the night, but then he remembers the ring and his breath hitches a little. he picks up the pace and heads straight home. youngjae, the owner of the music shop on his way home, looks at him pass with confusion; on a normal day chan would have stopped by to look at a cd or to play on the old piano because it had ‘a better feeling than his own keyboard’ but he didn’t tonight.

his hands are shaky as he tries to unlock the door and he’s equal times embarrassed and relieved as the door is opened from the inside. felix gives him a quizzical look but doesn’t comment on anything as he steps aside to let him inside. chan mumbles a greeting and a rushed ‘thank you’ and quickly heads towards his room. he tosses his bag into a corner and immediately starts looking for the ring.

his hands are shaking a little but he tries to concentrate on envisioning the rings characteristics in his mind instead. he can almost feel the cool metal and the matte, slightly rough surface under his fingers as he recalls every curve and edge of the black steel ring. however, it doesn’t make his search more successful. the ring is nowhere to be found and chan almost wants to give up but he tells himself that he still hasn’t looked anywhere apart from his bedroom. there’s a voice at the back of his head telling him that if he didn’t find the ring in his room he isn’t going to find it anywhere else in the apartment but he ignores it and heads towards the bathroom.

felix sticks his head out of his room as he passes and looks at him with a question mark practically written all over his face but chan is too preoccupied with his search to notice it. the bathroom is mostly clean except for the stray body lotion on the floor that chan remembered accidentally knocking from the shelf that morning and no one had bothered to put back into place. he can see that his ring isn’t there at first glance and drops to the floor. his vision becomes blurry and he grits his teeth. he doesn’t notice felix standing behind him and is reasonably shocked when a warm hand grabs his shoulder. felix tries to make him get up but chan stays on the floor, petrified and an empty pit in his stomach.

‘channie, what’s the matter?’ felix’s voice is gentle and chan thinks that maybe he doesn’t need to feel so stressed. however, this relief seems to evaporate as soon as he opens his mouth and he closes is without responding to the question. felix crouches down to his level and patiently looks at chan.

he takes a deep breath. ‘i lost my ring. the black one.’ felix hums and nods. ‘i thought i just forgot to put it back on this morning but it’s nowhere here and-’ he swallows. ‘have you seen it?’ chan tries not to make his voice sound too desperate and hopeful but he’s pretty sure he failed, going by the apologetic expression on felix’s face as he shakes his head. ‘are you sure you’ve looked everywhere?’ chan nods and lets his gaze fall to the floor.

✾

on the third day after losing his ring chan feels like he’s slowly losing his mind. he is wearing a different ring on his right middle finger, a beaded silver one, but it’s not the same. in fact, it feels plain _wrong_. the colour is too bright, the metal is too cold and it makes chan nauseous. jisung had told him to just get a new ring but that doesn’t feel right either.

it wasn’t the ring itself - he got it for barely 20 bucks off of amazon - but more so the symbolism that was connected to the ring. chan bought it i tenth grade, when he first realised apart from being gay, he liked to label himself as asexual. after a bit of researching, the black ring had felt like a symbol of approval, a reassurance that he was not alone. still, he couldn’t come out to his friends. jisung’s reaction had been absolutely reasonable and logical, given the fact that none of his friends knew about the ring’s importance. it still kinda hurt.

minho calls out to him, temporarily distracting chan from his reminiscence. chan shakes his head and tries to concentrate on his work. seungmin gives him a slightly questioning look but doesn’t poke into the matter any further and chan isn’t sure whether that makes him  feel sad or at ease.

when he and felix are making dinner later that day, chan pretends not to see felix’s supposedly-subtle glances at his right hand and gives him the brightest smile he can muster, hoping not to worry the younger. he’s going to buy a new one once he has enough money again. after that night felix seems more light-hearted and chan feels a weight lift off his shoulders. he noticed felix tiptoeing around him for the whole next day after he broke down in front of him and he feels relieved to see him less overcautious around him again.

✾

it’s been about a week since chan lost his ring and even though the silver replacement doesn’t feel like it’s burning his skin anymore, he still can’t seem to feel quite okay. he manages most of the time, but there are moments when he’s nervous and in the place of the textured black ring he would usually play with is the silver one, with too many edges and too smooth a surface.

minho lets him go home earlier, saying that he’s ‘more distracted than seungmin when jeongin appears within a 50 metre radius’ and chan feels futile. he feels worn out on his way home despite not having done anything exhausting that day. it’s ridiculous how much the ring affects him. there’s a small box with a letter attached to it in front of their apartment door when he arrives and he almost trips over it. the writing on the envelope says _to chan_ and he cocks his head in surprise. his birthday was months away, christmas as well.

he enters the apartment and wonders where felix is when he finds it empty, but then remembers that his roommate should still be at work this time around. his bag makes a loud thud when he throws it into his room carelessly. chan turns the box around in his hands. he walks into the kitchen and sets the gift down onto the kitchen table. with a glass of water in hand he sits down and examines the envelope once more. it’s a flawless white and the only sign of it’s sender is the _to chan_ lettering. the writing is artistic and chan can’t make out a familiar handwriting and he opens the envelope in hope of getting information from the letter.

_dear channie,_

chan bites his lip. this handwriting was more than familiar. it reminded him of secret notes during boring maths classes and cutely doodled comics inside textbooks from study sessions and messy notes of music history lectures. woojin.

_i hope this isn’t weird. i wasn’t sure if i could do or say this in person, so i decided to write a letter instead. before you continue reading i recommend you open the gift._

he looks up from the letter and towards the box on the table. the box is a little bit bigger than his fist and only wrapped in a white gift ribbon. he carefully opens it and chan is sure that his heart skipped at least three beats when he takes off the lid of the box. he looks back at the letter.

_i really hope the ring is the right size. please tell me if it’s not and i’ll exchange it… i tried to find one that matched your old one, but it was really hard to find anything that shipped to korea so i’m sorry that it’s not identical. it’s not about the exact appearance tho, am i right?_

chan feels his throat tie up a little.

_you never told any of us, so i wasn’t sure whether my suspicion was correct, but going by how distraught you reacted upon losing it i guess i was right. i hope you know that you could have told us. it’s not going to change how we see you at all._

he lets out a breath he didn’t realise he was holding.

_i originally planned on confessing in a different way, but this is the perfect opportunity and i’m afraid i’ll chicken out if i don’t do it now._

✾

when felix asks him about the new ring three days later and chan smiles and tells him that he got it from his boyfriend. to his disappointment felix doesn’t seem surprised and merely says something about him and woojin finally getting their act together.

jisung apologises profusely when chan tells him and the others about the ring’s significance two months later and chan feels relief washing over him. the conversation had been a little awkward and very stressful to him and chan is thankful for woojin’s hand on his thigh, keeping him grounded and calm.

**Author's Note:**

> was the end too rushed? i hope you liked it anyway i'm shit at ending stuff lol
> 
> leave a comment and/or kudos, i'll love you forever uwu
> 
> thank you for reading!
> 
> yell at me on twitter @yeiiowpostits :D


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